The north end of Front Street was the place to be for family fun this Saturday, July 8th. Over 50 people sampled Margaritas in the day’s tasting event, now well on its way to becoming a local Downtown tradition. The younger set could crawl and jump to their heart’s content on several inflatables while people of all ages played cornhole and other outdoor games on the bricks. The LaCour Brothers Trio, a stalwart of the local music scene, and north Louisiana’s Katalyst kept the crowd of several hundred people entertained throughout the evening. A watermelon eating contest introduced another lighthearted note to the day.

Destination Downtown also played host to a hard working crew from the Student Conservation Association who were taking a break from their labors repairing Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) structures built in the Kisatchie National Forest during the Great Depression era as well as doing trail maintenance. The 7 members of the crew are all high school aged volunteers from across the country who are spending a month out of their summer working in Kisatchie. Wearing their distinctive blue shirts and enthusiastic attitudes, they quickly became a crowd favorite. The Natchitoches Parish Journal wishes to thank them for their work and for a safe journey home.

As the evening ended, it was standing room only as night fell and the crowd awaited the fireworks display. The show did not disappoint as Front Street was rocked by exploding shells and lit by a superb pyrotechnic display.